The Chief Executive Officer of Dalex Finance Ghana, Joe Jackson, has called for the prosecution of individuals implicated in financial irregularities uncovered in the recent audit of public claims submitted to the Ministry of Finance.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile programme on Saturday, March 14, Mr Jackson stressed that the country must move beyond merely identifying wrongdoing to ensuring those responsible face the full rigours of the law.

His comments follow revelations by the Ministry of Finance that billions of cedis in public claims were rejected after an audit uncovered widespread irregularities.

Delivering a statement in Parliament on behalf of Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Nyarko Ampem disclosed that GH¢8.1 billion in claims had been disallowed due to issues such as unsupported documentation, duplicated submissions, inflated figures and payments for work that was never carried out.

Reacting to the development, Mr Jackson said Ghana cannot continue to allow such practices to occur whenever there is a transition in government without consequences. 

“We can’t continue to allow this to happen every time there is a change in government, and nothing is done about it. No, we can’t. Someone must be prosecuted, and someone must be jailed for it,” he stated.

The audit reviewed a total of GH¢68.7 billion in claims submitted for validation, of which GH¢45.4 billion was approved for payment, and GH¢13.2 billion was flagged due to serious concerns. 

The Ministry of Finance has since referred the findings to the Office of the Attorney-General and the Ministry of Justice for possible criminal prosecution, while introducing a strict “triple-lock” accountability framework to prevent future financial losses and strengthen public sector accountability.